buccinator

American  

[buhk-suh-ney-ter] / ˈbʌk səˌneɪ tər /

noun

Anatomy.

1. a thin, flat muscle lining the cheek, the action of which contracts and compresses the cheek.

---

buccinator British  

/ ˈbʌksɪˌneɪtə /

noun

1. a thin muscle that compresses the cheeks and holds them against the teeth during chewing, etc

---

Other Word Forms

• buccinatory adjective

Etymology

Origin of buccinator

1665–75; < New Latin; Latin buccinātor, būcinātor trumpeter, equivalent to būcinā ( re ) to signal on a trumpet (verbal derivative of būcina curved trumpet or horn) + -tor -tor

Example Sentences

The next time you eat some food, notice how the buccinator muscles in your cheeks and the orbicularis oris muscle in your lips contract, helping you keep the food from falling out of your mouth.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

Between the skin and mucous membranes are connective tissue and buccinator muscles.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

A large portion of the face is composed of the buccinator muscle, which compresses the cheek.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

Radical increase of the lips’ protrusive range requires systematic exercise of the maxillary fasciae, such as the depressor septi, orbicularis oris, depressor anguli oris, depressor labii inferioris, and the buccinator, circumoral, and risorius groups.

From The New Yorker • Feb. 28, 2011

In spite of the detritus wrought by the festival, there was something familiar about the buccinator of her face and her little mannerism of elevating her second phalanx.

From Of All Things by Benchley, Robert C.